State of the Meeting

Below is the State of RantWoman's Meeting as reported by the report's drafters. RantWoman sent off to the report's drafters some factual corrections to the draft offered at Business Meeting. Then RantWoman sent them off AGAIN with a request to the drafters and the Clerk to double-check. Turns out, urk!, RantWoman needed correcting about one point and one hovers in some filing murkiness.

Lately, RantWoman has been discovering how much capacity she has to, as one Friend put it, "hold Friends' stuggles tenderly." RantWoman is highly certain that she but not the current Clerk was present at one Business Meeting related to one fact.

RantWoman has concerns about a couple other points but fixing them has to be someone else's Light. The offering below reflects the Light of the authors. It is our Meeting's custom not to quibble at the second reading. RantWoman would be grateful if Light about the points vexing RantWoman were given to others; RantWoman feels overendowed in that area and would SO like to share the burdens.


STATE OF THE MEETING
University Friends Meeting
April 2012

The Spirit that moved among us in UFM in 2011 was not the mighty wind of Pentecost, but a strong, gentle flowing of love and compassion that centered us in community. More than 50 members are serving on more than 12 Care Committees to provide aid and support to their brothers and sisters in need. The Adult Religious Education meetings have attracted more participants to programs exploring Quaker history and the endeavors of Friends in many different educational, religious and social
service projects.

The QuEST program continues to attract impressive young adult interns to serve in various non-profit agencies in Seattle. For their 20th program year, QuEST initiated new placements at Sacred Heart Shelter, AFSC and Lifelong AIDS Alliance. Over the years QuEST has offered a model that has resulted in similar programs in other cities and has given advice and support as these programs developed.

We continued having Monthly Meeting for Business emerge from Meeting for Worship every second First Day; this scheduling has improved attendance and participation. We have had the addition of several young families to our Meeting, and the First Day program has prospered, thanks to the devotion of volunteer teachers and a paid Preschool teacher. The Junior Friends program has been reactivated.

We continued our remodeling work on the Meetinghouse, and, as a result, now have two new bathrooms on the main floor (one handicapped accessible) and greatly improved space for the First Day programs. A refurbished Social Hall made our gatherings for refreshments, lunch, music and fundraisers warmer and more attractive to newcomers and renters and gave us a lovely space for our Art shows.

Over five years ago, the Spirit led us to open our Worship Room as an overnight shelter for about 20 homeless people every night, in cooperation with SHARE (Seattle Housing and Resource Effort). The subcommittee on homelessness encouraged greater contact between Friends and these guests by sponsoring potluck dinners, sharing Thanksgiving dinner and putting together Christmas gift bags. The subcommittee also introduced longer shelter hours during cold weather and holidays and sponsored fundraisers. Volunteers from the subcommittee used some of the fundraising money to rebuild the shed used by our guests, and with SHARE’s assistance and financial support, we struggled with the problem of bedbugs.

Highlights of our participation in the greater Quaker community were one members transitioning from a two year stint as Presiding Clerk of FCNL to Assistant Clerk; another continues on the Executive Committee of FWCC section of the Americas and yet another is Treasurer for FWCC SoA. Still another is working as a translator for materials for the 6th World Conference to be held in Kenya in April.

There have been a number of community building projects during the past year; reading groups, spiritual sharing groups and a Meeting-wide retreat.

We are in our second decade of openly holding, at once, the community and worship needs of survivors of sexual abuse, of our Meeting children and past sexual offenders. We use a number of standard safety practices related to our children. We also held an Adult Education session by a trained sexuality educator about talking with our children (and each other) about several difficult topics. We continue specifically to make space in community conversations to listen to abuse survivors who individually
express very different needs.

Another set of conversations is about an offender, a long time attender of our Meeting, who is nearing the end of his Department of Corrections supervision. Also, a member of our Meeting and her husband held a striking Q & A session. The husband was a longtime inmate facilitator in Alternatives to Violence programs and member of a prison worship group under care of our Meeting’s Quarterly Meeting. He was released after a long prison term and has also become part of our community. Each new step walking with these Friends offers our Meeting opportunities to grow and to deepen our spiritual community.

And so University Friends Meeting continues to minister to members and attenders and to reach out to the greater Quaker community and a troubled world in need of care and tending, relying as always on the Spirit that dwells within us all to lead and sustain us and keep us in the Light.